Cuba Reels As US Strike On Venezuela Shatters Old Alliance

first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba since 2021

For months, Cubans whispered the same fearful question: “Are we next?”
After the lightning-fast U.S. strike that dismantled Venezuela’s defenses and saw Nicolás Maduro whisked into American custody, that question no longer sounds paranoid — it sounds prescient.

Cuba has lost its greatest protector overnight. And the shock is rippling through Havana like an earthquake.

At a fiery protest outside the U.S. Embassy, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel vowed to stand by Venezuela — even at “heavy cost.” But the truth is stark: Cuba relied on Venezuelan oil the way lungs rely on oxygen. Now the pipeline is shattered.

And the price has already been bloody.

Trump said dozens of Cubans died while guarding Maduro. Havana later confirmed 32 Cubans killed, declaring two days of national mourning — the first direct combat loss against the U.S. in decades. It also confirmed a long-suspected reality: Maduro trusted Cuban bodyguards more than his own military.

This alliance wasn’t symbolic. It was survival.

For years, Hugo Chávez — and later Maduro — sent billions in oil credits to keep Cuba afloat after the Soviet collapse. In return, Havana flooded Venezuela with doctors, advisers, spies, security officers — and political lifelines. The two countries blurred together. Chávez even received honorary Cuban citizenship — a privilege once shared only with Che Guevara.

But Trump’s revived Monroe Doctrine has turned that partnership into a bullseye.

Analysts warn that the speed of the Venezuela operation will embolden Washington’s regime-change hawks. If the U.S. can remove Maduro in hours, what stops them from looking 90 miles north?

And Cuba is already breaking.

Blackouts sweep the island daily. Fuel is scarce. Power plants fail. Food shortages creep toward crisis. State TV talks about electricity like a weather forecast. One commentator even urged Cubans to stop eating rice — a remark that landed like a slap.

“We live in a state of war without war,” a Cuban resident said.

Now the “without war” part may be slipping away.

Trump has shown no appetite for tolerating communist governments in the hemisphere — especially one that sheltered Maduro and staffed his inner circle. Cuba, already isolated and weakened, now stands without its strategic shield.

That reality terrifies Havana — and tempts Washington.

Whether threats alone will break Cuba, or whether the U.S. takes the final step generations of Cold War planners only imagined, remains uncertain. But one thing is clear:

The fall of Venezuela has left Cuba exposed — and out of allies.

And that changes everything.

Key Takeaways

• Cuba has been left dangerously exposed after the U.S. captured Nicolás Maduro, shattering the long-standing lifeline that kept Havana’s economy afloat.

• At least 32 Cubans were killed defending Maduro, confirming deep Cuban involvement in Venezuelan security operations.

• Analysts warn Cuba may now become Washington’s next target, as the revived Monroe Doctrine collides with Cuba’s worsening economic collapse.

SOURCE: CNN

36 minutes ago, Social Media said:

SOURCE: CNN

Do I need to type any more.

Cuba should be so lucky.

Thanks for the red thumbs. I am trying to have the most of any poster so they will put me up with the most posters of the month, year or whatever.

We've learned a lot since the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba. Sadly, that failure meant Cuba has had to mire in an economic disaster that only communism without reality drives (in this regard, Vietnam has shown economic pragmatism can overcome destructive dogma -- China, too, in some regards).

This new successful "Bay of Pigs" venture in Venezuela may allow Venezuela to return to pre-Chavez days, where it had a solid middle class of entrepreneurs and a first world presence. Sometimes the end does justify the means. We'll just have to await how it all shakes out

Had Castro been snatched in his early days as dictator, Cuba would not be today's basket case. Let's hope Venezuela is now in a position to rise from the ashes that the Chavez/Cuba/Maduro yoke brought about. If so, please quit wringing your hands over methods of obtaining such.

18 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Had Castro been snatched in his early days as dictator, Cuba would not be today's basket case.

Had the US not sanctioned Cuba it would have been the thriving country it was before the sanctions,

4 minutes ago, johng said:

Had the US not sanctioned Cuba it would have been the thriving country it was before the sanctions,

Thriving like the USSR?

1 minute ago, TedG said:

Thriving like the USSR?

They don't even have washing machines or ball bearings..fighting the Ukrainians (NATO) with shovels and Donkeys.